Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga now says that he is delighted to be back home, after losing the African Union Commission chairmanship.
Speaking for the first time after the election, Raila said he was grateful to all Kenyans who walked the journey with him.
“I am delighted to be back home. You see, East, West, North, and South home is best. I feel very happy and delighted to be back in Kenya after what we went through. I want to thank everybody. You the President, the Deputy President, the ministers and leaders and Kenyans generally who travelled with us,” he said.
Raila described the election as an eye-opener.
He said through the process, he was able to understand the African continent better than he did.
He said through the AUC election, he met over 40 leaders from across the continent and engaged on various key issues affecting Africa.
“This was an enterprise that was an eye opener, it gave us an opportunity to understand our continent better. We now know the challenges that face our continent, I had an opportunity to meet over 40 presidents in their own capitals,” the former Prime Minister said.
Raila described his loss as a win because he will now have time to do other things in the country.
He lost the election to Djibouti’s Ali Mohammed Youssouf.
This is the first time Raila has publicly spoken after losing the seat.
The former PM had taken time off the busy campaign schedule after his loss.
Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf won the race after getting the requisite 33 votes in the 7th round of voting which he contested alone.
Raila had been dropped in the sixth round after he trailed Youssof in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds of the vote.
Madagascar's Richard Randriamandrato was eliminated earlier after trailing the race in the first, second and third rounds leaving the race for Raila and Youssouf to face off.
In round one of the election, Raila got 20 votes, Youssouf 18 and Randriamandrato 10. One nation abstained.
